The Granville Theatre

The 1st Operational Independent TV Studio in London

Location: Walham Green, Hammersmith & Fulham, SW6

Description: The 'Granville Theatre' of Varieties opened on 19th September 1898. It was built for comedian Herbert Campbell, and his two co-directors who were fellow music hall & pantomime comedians; Dan Leno & Harry Randall.

The building was located on Fulham Broadway, in the Walham Green area of Fulham, west London. The Granville Theatre of Varieties took an entire small block of land, surrounded on all four sides by streets, with the entrance at the corner of Fulham Broadway and Jerdan Place and the dressing room block on Vanston Place.

The Granville Theatre was closed in 1950, and it was converted into a film studio. The building itself remained unaltered, apart from a leveling of the main orchestra stalls floor. The film studio used closed in 1956 and the building lay empty and unused.

In September 1971, planning permission was granted to demolish the Granville Theatre, for it to be replaced by an office block. Despite protests from the Fulham History Society and letters to the local Hammersmith Borough Council and the Greater London Council Historic Buildings Division, the demolition plans went ahead in October 1971.

The fight to save the Granville Theatre was lost, due to action not being taken earlier. But its sacrifice paved the way for other theatres in a similar position to be saved, by being given Listed building status, something that the Granville Theatre certainly should have been granted.